David Wood (Christian apologist)

Early life and education

Wood has stated that he was an atheist in his youth, during which he had run-ins with the law by breaking into homes and later going as far as attempting to take his father's life at the age of 18, claiming a belief that morality was merely societal rules that were beneath him. After the attempt on his father's life, Wood was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (sociopathy) and was sentenced to ten years in prison for malicious wounding. While in prison, he was confronted with a fellow prisoner named Randy who was a devout Christian. Wood often challenged Randy's Christian beliefs, initially claiming that Randy was only a Christian because he was born into a primarily Christian society, specifically the United States. Wood began to read the Bible in order to respond to Randy's rebuttals but it eventually led Wood to convert to Christianity in 1996 himself, and to eventually reconcile with his father.

After five years between jail and prison, he was released in 2000 and went to college earning a degree in philosophy. While in college, he was challenged to convert to Islam by his roommate, Nabeel Qureshi, an Ahmadiyya Muslim, and went about investigating the life of Mohammed using the earliest sources including Ibn Ishaq's epic the "Life of Muhammad" (the earliest biography of Muhammad); the hadith collections of Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim (considered by Sunni Muslims to be the two most reliable or sahih collections of Muhammad's statements, actions, and example); and the History of the Prophets and Kings by Al-Tabari (one of Islam's greatest historians). Concluding that the Quran and Mohammed's example did not simply describe violence in the past (as in the Christian Bible per his assertion), but rather commanded ongoing violence, he took up the mantle as a Christian apologist. His roommate Nabeel eventually went on to become a Christian apologist as well. Wood would later earn a Ph.D. in the philosophy of religion at Fordham University.

Christian apologetics

Wood has participated in numerous public debates with Muslims and atheists, usually in a public hall or in front of a university audience including debates with Sunni Muslim apologist Shabir Ally. Wood was invited on several ABN shows, in inter-religious discussions against atheism and Islam, where among other things he regularly appears on the Aramaic Broadcasting Network. He has produced YouTube videos presenting his views on religion.

Wood opposed the Park51 Islamic Center, arguing that it was not meant to honor the victims' families, but instead was a symbol of Islamic victory and named Cordoba House in memory of the Islamic conquest of Spain by the Umayyad Caliphate which later formed the Caliphate of Córdoba. Wood disagreed with Pastor Terry Jones in the 2010 Qur'an-burning controversy, comparing it to the Uthman Qur'an burning.

Wood was arrested outside Dearborn, Michigan, after preaching at an Arab festival and being charged with a misdemeanor of disturbing the peace, but was later acquitted. In May 2013, the City of Dearborn was required to post a public apology to be maintained on the City's website for three years and pay $300,000 to Wood and his three compatriots.

Wood wrote a polemic regarding the work of Richard Carrier which he titled "Good 'n' Senseless Without God: A Critical Review of Richard Carrier's New Book, Sense & Goodness Without God". Richard Carrier responded to the review with an essay entitled "On the Deceptions of David Wood", in which, he wrote that Wood misrepresented his arguments and that his review was full of diatribes. Wood has also written journals arguing against the views of Dan Barker.

Personal life

He met his wife Marie, then an agnostic while in college; she also became a Christian. They have four sons: Blaise, Luke, Reid and Paley.